Fallout: Minuteman's Call
by The True Survivor
Summary: Follow Logan, the Sole Survivor, as he adventures out into the Commonwealth to find his son's kidnappers. Through his travels he will meet new people and maybe even rise to the Minuteman's Call.
1. Epilogue

**Prologue**

"NO! GET AWAY FROM THEM! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!" Logan yelled banging his hand against the glass of the cryo pod.

Two of the three intruders, the ones wearing some sort of hazmat suit took a step away from his pod, as if scared of his threats. The third, a balding man with a scar over his left eye, took a closer look at the trapped man while scowling deeply.

"Open the hatch." The balding man commanded, his gaze never leaving Logan's

One of the three turned to the console located next to Nora and Shaun's pod. Inputting the command the pod hissed expelling the air from the pod. The same person, a female, who entered the code stepped in front of a confused and disoriented Nora. Attempting to take Shaun out of Nora's grasp, the unknown woman's attempts were hindered as Nora flinched away from he reaching hands.

"No, I have him." Nora slurred.

"Let go of the kid. I'm only going to tell you once," The sandpaper like voice of the balding man threatened. Pointing a massive handgun at Nora.

"I'm not giving you Sha-."

Nora's protest were cut short as a thunderous explosion erupted from the gun, the round finding its mark in her heart. The other woman, without missing a beat, stepped up and removed Shaun from Nora's loosening grasp

"NO! NORA! LEAVE SHAUN ALONE, I'LL KILL YOU!" Logan raged bashing his hands against the glass in another futile attempt to gain freedom from his prison.

The scarred man looked away from the body of Nora and back at Logan.

"Let's go," He said to the two Hazmat clad figures, "at least we still have a back-up."

"Cryogenic Sequence Reinitialized." A female synthesized voice intoned.

"Nora..." Logan whimpered his hands falling from glass as he was overcome with an all encompassing white.

A racking, sputtering, cough was the first thing Logan heard and felt as the whiteness began to fade. Reaching forward he tried to push open the door again, knowing that he wouldn't be able to do anything. Until the hatch hissed and began swinging upwards, allowing him to fall face first on to the cold wet floor.

Grunting Logan slowly climbed on to all fours looking around for any signs of life. He looked up at the capsule in front of him and saw Nora. He smiled seeing his wife's beautiful face. His smile fell immediately as he remembered the thunderous boom, Logan began to panic. Standing he rushed to the capsule and with dread looked fully into the glass port. What he saw broke him all over again.

Nora's head lay to one side, as if she were only sleeping. Logan breathed quick bursts through his nose as he examined her further, the only sign that she were not alive was the hole punched through her heart. Logan felt tears streaming as he looked for anyway to open the capsule. Spying a console to the right of the capsule Logan stepped over trying to do anything to free his wife's body.

Nothing. Nothing he did worked, trying to input commands using the buttons, grabbing the handle on the console and pulling it up. Logan had found some sort of tank lying off to the side, the gauges read that it was empty of its contents. Using it as a hammer Logan bashed the tanks against the glass. After many attempts at bludgeoning the capsule, Logan, sat on the ledge of his capsule sweating and breathing heavily.

Shoulders sagging Logan walked back to the glass and pressed his head against it, wallowing in his emotions at the futility of it all. He looked at his wife again, burning the image into his brain, so he would never forget her face. Finally he pressed his forehead against the cold glass and stood there for a moment.

"I'm sorry, Nora," he finally whispered, "I'm sorry I failed you, I'm sorry I failed Shaun."

Logan stepped back from the capsule, kissed his hand, and placed it on the glass.

"I love you." Logan whispered as he turned away.

Logan stumbled to a small set of stairs leading to a door with "111" in black and yellow on it. As he approached the door, the doors sensors registered his movement and opened for him. What awaited passed the door was a short hallway, the lights allowing him to see a door to his immediate left and another door at the end of the hallway.

Remembering the door he had first come through on his arrival, Logan began making his way to the door at the end of the hallway. Closing in on the door Logan saw another door that he had not seen from his end of the hallway. He pushed forward just wanting to leave this horrible place. Arriving at the far door Logan almost collided with it as the sensors didn't automatically open the door. Placing his hands on the manual grips for the door Logan tried to push down. The door wouldn't budge no matter how hard Logan tried.

Giving the door a slight kick in frustration, Logan began walking to the door he had passed before. This door's sensors worked as it slid open when he approached. Passing through the threshold, Logan was greeted with another small set of stairs leading to another room. What greeted him gave Logan a jolt of surprise.

The room he walked into had two doors to the right one leading straight and the other one heading to the right back towards the way he had come. A window that overlooked, what Logan assumed was the vaults generator, had a massive cockroach clung to it. It took Logan a moment to realize the roach was on the other side of the window, but knowing that it did little to satiate his surprise (and admittedly fear).

"Giant... Cockroaches?" Logan asked himself

Looking at a small crate that sat under the window Logan saw a security baton. Grabbing it he flicked it, extending the baton to its full length. Logan didn't want to take any chances, especially with giant roaches around.

Heading to the opened right door Logan saw a small office like room, or possibly a supply closet. The room held an assortment of chairs, filing cabinets, and a few desks. On one such desk sat a terminal, still powered on. Logan sat at the computer placing his baton to the side, he wanted to check to see if the computer had anything useful and extend his time before he would have to deal with the oversized bugs. Oddly enough this actually brought to the forefront of his mind the question: Where was everyone else

The terminal wasn't locked so he had no trouble looking through the assorted files. What awaited Logan on the terminal shocked him. The Vault was created to test suspended animation on human subjects. The terminal even went into what was to be done with anyone who had gained entry that were not on the manifest, which left Logan angry.

Before Logan logged off he saw a file labeled "Security Logs" detailing the months that the Vault-Tec personnel had to go through. It gave Logan a somewhat sadistic feeling of satisfaction at what the personnel had to experience in their time in the vault.

Standing Logan grabbed his baton and made his way to the only other doorway available, continuing on his mission of finding an exit from this hell hole. Stepping through the door Logan was greeted with a barely lit hallway leading into a curve that veered to the left. Following the hallway Logan was met with another door.

 _Vault-Tec sure likes their doors_ , Logan thought.

Stepping through the door Logan was met with a roach. Upon seeing him it started making a noise that Logan could only define as a "screech mixed with clicking." Without even thinking Logan ran up and struck the bug with his baton, crushing it downward. Logan stomped on the creature, one to make sure it was dead and two, to relieve himself of some of the emotions ricocheting through his mind. He hated bugs, even when they weren't massive, and the satisfaction he received from killing the disgusting creature helped him get his mind off his wife and the situation he found himself in, even if it last only a moment.

Leaving the crushed and mangled creature where it lay Logan stepped through an open door and was met with a table sitting in the middle of the room, a terminal in the back left, a kitchen to the right, bathroom further right, and finally another room which looked like the bedroom or barracks. Logan began looking though the rooms and attempting to find anything useful, after 10 minutes of searching Logan deemed the search useless.

Leaving both rooms behind Logan backtracked and went through the only door he hadn't been through yet, the door that led to the vault's generators. Upon entering Logan was greeted with another giant roach, and two generators. One generator was damaged and as Logan readied himself to attack the giant insect the damaged generator shot out an electric bolt and struck the bug, causing the roach to screech in pain and then fall to the ground with small wisps of smoke floating off it's body.

Bypassing the generators Logan made his was to the opposing wall and entered another hallway with another small set of stairs. After ascending the stairs and pushing through a doorway Logan was greeted by the Overseers office. A skeleton lay on its' back foot dangling over a toppled chair, the first Vault-Tec personnel he had found since exiting the cryo pod.

Examining the room Logan's eyes fell on a pistol laying on the table, a box of rounds sitting next to the pistol. Logan had never seen a pistol like the one laying on the table, but as he examined it he saw the manufacturers name on it. **Advanced Arms** was displayed on the slide, along with the model: **Witness**. Logan had heard of the weapons maker Advanced Arms before, they had been a leading guns manufacturer selling expensive guns to the military and anyone who could afford them. Apparently Vault-Tec had decided to outfit their personnel with some cutting edge weapons.

The gun that Logan now held, the Witness, still fired 10mm rounds but was much smaller than the average 10mm pistol. Mostly because the receiver was made to be more compact. Honestly it looked like more modern colt 1911. After looking around a little more Logan found a few more magazines for the Witness, a holster, and a stimpack. The only problems were that his jumpsuit didn't have anything to attach the holster to and with the extra stuff he found he would need some sort of bag.

Loading a new magazine into the Witness and chambering a round Logan moved to, what he assumed was the security armory. The large door to the armory stood open and everything inside looked to have been thrown around. Looking around the small room Logan found more 10mm rounds and another Witness. His arms full with boxes of Rounds and another pistol Logan placed the supplies on the Overseer's desk, before turning around and heading into, what could only be, the Overseer's quarters.

Looking through the room Logan found a half box or rounds and three packs of Cigarettes. Noticing the Overseer's bed and the dusty old sheets that lay on it, Logan had an idea to solve his need for a bag. Removing one of the sheets from the bed Logan began making a bag for his supplies. The end result was a haphazard arrangement, but it looked like it would work at least until he found something more suitable. Logan stood and exited the room.

Finally stopping at the terminal he had bypassed Logan reset the chair the skeleton's leg was dangling from and took at seat. Looking through the logs on the old terminal he went straight for the one that stated: Open Evacuation Tunnel. With some grinding the door across the room from Logan opened. Exiting the room Logan was greeted with the sound of clicking on a metal surface. Finally locating the sound Logan saw three roaches moving along the floor.

Raising the weapon Logan took aim. Smoothly pulling the trigger back he was surprised with the smooth operation of the mechanics in the gun. Smiling with a sense of profession Logan felt as the pistol shot, recoiled smoothly, ejected the spent casing, and chambered another round all in a short smooth motion. The round he noticed had shredded the body of one of the cockroaches. After he finished admiring the gun he noticed two things, the ringing in his ears, and the pissed off screeching of the other two insects.

Aiming, squeezing, shooting, resetting. Logan took his weapons fundamentals to heart as he dispatched the last two insects. Smiling as he looked at the aftermath of his actions, and saw that all three roaches lay spattered on the floor and walls.

Logan replaced his magazine, determining that a full magazine in this place was better than one with a few rounds missing. He began moving through the long hallway, passing a few more doors he finally arrived at the entrance.

Looking through the room he was greeted with the smiles a few more skeletons strewn throughout the room. Logan spotted one skeleton lying by the console for the door, lab coat torn and shredded, it's arm a few feet away from its body. Said arm held a pipboy. Walking over to the skeletons escaping appendage Logan took the dusty pipboy and placed it on his arm, attaching the latch and securing it closed. Pressing the power button, Logan was greeted with text appearing on the little wrist-mounted computer.

While waiting for the pipboy to finish starting up Logan began wiping away the dust from the screen, and attempted to remove any other dust around the buttons and switches. A small beep alerted Logan that the pipboy had finished its initial setup and was ready for use.

Looking back at the console, Logan saw a small port to the left side. Grabbing the cord and plugin from the pipboy, Logan inserted the cord and watched as the glass case surrounding a red button opened. Pressing the button Logan stepped back as Alarms began ringing and yellow lights appeared.

"Vault cycling sequence initiated," stated an automated voice, "Please stand back."

Logan watched as a machine lowered and moved to the cog-like vault door before inserting itself into the door. A loud screech and some sparks came from the door as it dislodged from its resting place and began rotating to the side, a bridge extending out over the gap.

Walking around the railing Logan moved to the bridge and down the stairs where he was greeted by the elevator that had brought him to this loathsome place. Stepping onto the elevator Logan gave one last look at the nightmarish place and sighed, vowing to one day return to this place and retrieve his wife's body. The elevator jerked and began its' ascension to the surface, and Logan's new life.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

What awaited on the surface sent Logan on a rollercoaster of emotional change. He went from surprised, to anger, to sadness, to acceptance. He new that after the explosion that near blinded him on his way down into the vault that things would be different. As Logan looked out over the wasteland of dead trees and rusted equipment his eyes fell to what had once been Sanctuary, his home.

Logan could see from his vantage point over looking the dilapidated community that nothing had really survived the fallout. He could see walls missing windows, rooftops missing shingles, and cars rusted and some even turned on their sides. What had surprised him were the amount of houses that were still standing. It seemed that only a few of the dozen or so houses had collapsed.

Logan turned from the cliff took in the scenery behind him. Several skeletons lay surrounding the elevator, telling a story of fear and death. Logan felt for the remains of the people who had tried to seek refuge in the vault.

Stepping off the elevator, Logan, began his march to his old home. Taking note in all the vehicles that lay rusted and unused Logan saw a tiny building to the left of the trail. It looked to be the construction office for the contractors who built the vault. Inside he found a skeleton laying on the floor sprawled out, a single arm held onto a chair, a can of cram that looked old and probably way past its expiration day, and a broken terminal with a switchblade sticking out of the top.

 _Who would stab a terminal,_ Logan asked himself as he pried the blade from its resting place.

Placing the switchblade, and grudgingly the Cram, inside his makeshift pack Logan resumed walking the trail leading to Sanctuary. Coming to a rickety bridge Logan stopped to look at the water, noting the relaxing sound and the almost normal look of it all. Sighing Logan pressed on before coming the outer boundaries of Sanctuary. Continuing he took a left and walked to his old home.

Arriving at his old home Logan looked it over, besides the outer damage and the missing windows, Logan was surprised at how the home had stayed together. That is until he heard the sounds of a tiny propulsion system and saw the chrome form a Mr. Handy come speeding towards him.

"As I live and breathe!" the chrome bot exclaimed

"Codsworth? Your're still here?" Logan asked, happy that the faithful bot had survived.

"Of course, sir! A little radiation would never deter the pride and joy of General Atomics International. Sir you look tired please have a seat and I will whip you up a snack! Will the missus be joining us, sir?"

"Codsworth...she's...in a better place." Logan whispered.

"Sir, you couldn't possibly mean..." Codsworth's question died out as he saw Logan's expression.

"Yes, Codsworth, I mean she is no longer... Alive." Logan answered the question.

"And, little Shaun?"

"He was kidnapped, Codsworth." anger crept into Logan's voice, "I'm going to get him back."

"Sir, are you feeling well? You have been gone for 200 years."

Logan, who had been thinking back on the events that seemed like minutes ago, snapped out of his thoughts as what Codsworth said sunk in.

"Codsworth, no is not the time for jokes. There's no way I was gone for that long..."

"Sir, it's no joke, you've been gone for over 210 years if my chronometer is correct. That would mean you are two centuries late for dinner." Codsworth ended with an awkward chuckle.

Throughout the conversation Logan had been picking up minor things Codsworth had been doing, it seemed the robots mannerisms were slightly different than what Logan remembered.

"Codsworth, are you okay?" Logan asked.

"Sir? I've nev-" Codsworth stopped as he looked at his master, seeing concern on the man's face, "Oh sir, it's been just horible 200 years with no one to talk to, no one to serve. I spent the first TEN years trying to get the floors waxed, nothing gets nuclear fallout out of wood vinyl. And everything else with the house, from the car to yard, nothing could be done to fix these things."

Logan noticed how much the robot had been through, by himself, for 200 years. He felt for the robot.

"Codsworth, I'm sorry." Logan apologized.

Codsworth floated for a second, dumbstruck at his masters apology.

"Sir, you don-"

"Codsworth, you are a part of this family, and we abandoned you for 200 years! That's not how families should work."

"Sir... You think of me as family?"

"Of course, Codsworth." Logan smiled.

The bot seemed to straighten up at the man's words.

"Sir?" The bot asked

"Yes, Codsworth?"

"The missus wasn't ever able to give you this."

Codsworth's claw held a holotape. Written on the tape, in Nora's beautiful handwriting, was _Hi Honey!._ Logan opened the Holotape player, that was attached to his pipboy, inserted the tape and hit play.

At the beginning all he heard was someone messing with the recorder, after he heard the babbles of Shaun, and finally he heard his wife talking to Shaun trying to get his little hands away from the recorder.

"Hi honey! Listen, I don't think that Shaun and I need to tell you how great of a father you are,"

Logan smiled.

"but we're going to anyway," the tape continued, "Isn't that right? You are kind, and loving, and funny, and patient. So patient. Patience of a saint, my mom use to say. Look, with Shaun and us all being home together it's been an amazing year. Even so, I know our best days are yet to come. There will be changes sure, things we need to adjust to, as you rejoin the civilian workforce. I'll even shake the dust off my law degree, but everything we do no matter how hard, we do it for our family."

At this point a tear had snuck it's way down Logan's face.

"Tell him buh-bye," Nora said to Shaun, "Buh-bye daddy, We love you."

As the tape ended Logan wiped the single tear away with his hand.

"Codsworth, is the safe still locked?" Logan asked the robot.

"Of course, sir. Everything is as close to normal as I was able to put them. The safe has not been touched since you left." Codsworth answered.

Logan entered his old home, memories of better times pushing to the forefront of his mind. Walking to his and Nora's room Logan noticed the small things that Codsworth had done. Sweeping the debris to a corner, realigning some of the moved tile, even folding some clothes that had survived the fallout. As he passed these things he saw Shaun's room, or more importantly, his crib. Quickly, turning away he entered his room and made his way to the closet.

Arriving in the corner closet, Logan kneeled down and removed the false flooring, exposing a rather large safe. Typing in the code and twisting the the handle, Logan pulled the safe door upwards, exposing the contents.

Three guns sat in their assigned spots, along with a bag containing all the ammunition and magazines he had accumulated for the weapons, and a load bearing vest to store his loaded magazines for easy access. Logan remembered how Nora Had been upset with him when he spent the money on the guns and the safe. He told her that with the way the world was going it was better to be prepared.

Logan pulled the bag out of the safe first and placed hit behind him on the floor. Next he grabbed the first rifle, the R800. This rifle had been his first purchase of the three. Firing .308 rounds this rifle was deadly at longer ranges. The sight on top was a x8 scope that had come with the rifle, and it was zeroed in perfectly.

The next rifle he had purchased hadn't been necessarily legal. One of his friends from the military had contacts with a manufacturer that supplied weapons to the military. This friend had the same mindset as Logan when it came situation with the world, and had helped Logan purchase a gun that wasn't legal for civilians.

Said gun now rested in Logan's hands as he inspected it. The black rifle, the Instigator as the manufacture named it, came with a 16 inch barrel which was covered with a rail system and ended with a suppressor, attached to the rails were an angled grip, and a red dot sight that sat on top of the receiver. This rifle shot 5.56 rounds on either semi-auto and fully automatic. This gun being usually only available to the military would give him an edge over anything civilians would carry, or he hoped at least.

Finally, the last gun, a pistol. This pistol was a 1911, shot .45 caliber rounds, and was dependable. The only problem that Logan had with the pistol was the rounds it required, which had been plentiful before the bombs dropped, might not be as available now. He had acquired more rounds in the vault, for the 10mm, than he had for his .45. On top of having more rounds he also had two Witness', which meant if one went down he had another, or parts if it was a fixable. So he decided that once he changed into different clothing he would continue to use the Witness, and save his 1911.

After loading up his new bag with all the supplies he had nabbed from the vault Logan began looking for more suitable clothes. What he ended up finding was a few pairs of t-shirts, two pairs of jeans, a belt, and his combat boots. Removing the blasted vault suit Logan threw on a grey t-shirt, his jeans, and his boots. Clipping on his holster for the Witness Logan grabbed his bag and started loading magazines, putting the filled magazines in his LBV. By the end of this task Logan had used most of his 5.56 and a good portion of his .308s, having seven magazines for his Instigator, three for his R800, and the four for his Witness.

Strapping his R800 to his bag Logan donned his LBV, slipped the Instigator's sling over his head and under his left arm, before sliding his bag onto his back. Placing his Witness onto his hip holster, Logan was finally ready to go.

Stepping out of his house Logan made a beeline to Codsworth, greeting the floating ball.

"Codsworth, I need to find Shaun. Are there any people around that you know of that could possibly help?" Logan inquired.

"Well, sir. The Concord isn't far from here, and the people there have only shot at me a few times." Replied the robot.

"Thanks, Codsworth. For everything."

"Of course, sir."

Logan followed the road from his home passing the old rundown homes, before finally arriving at an old bridge. Seeing the bridge had collapsed on one side Logan warily walked across. Finally crossing the bridge Logan released the breathe he didn't know he had been holding. Stepping back onto the hard cement of the road Logan picked up his pace. A short time later Logan came to an old Red Rocket fuel station, determined to pass right through Logan's progress was halted when he heard a bark coming from the delipidated station. Turning Logan was greeted with the curios face of a dog, it's head tilted slightly.

"Hey, boy? Where's your owner?" Logan asked not expecting an answer

The dog, determine that Logan wasn't a threat walked closer and began sniffing Logan's legs. Logan kneeled down beside the dog and extended his hand for it to sniff, before finally setting his hand on the dogs back and petting him.

"Do you want to come with me, pal?" Logan asked.

The dog barked as if answering his question.

"Okay, then. Let's stick together."

Logan continued his march to Concord, dog following close behind.

A short time later Logan arrived at the outskirts of Concord, and noticed that a significant amount of building still stood. Logan continued down the road until he heard a scream. Re-gripping his rifle Logan jogged to the edge of a building slowly peering around the corner. Logan saw ragtag band of misfits, all decked out in a crazy assortment of gear. What really caught Logan's eye was the three kneeling figures in the middle.

"We have three more to play with." Logan heard a female say.

"Two." A males voice said before he leaned over and slit on man's throat.

The kneeling female screamed as she were covered in the dead man's blood.

"Raider scum." The third kneeling figure said.

Logan debated interfering with the two groups, he counted six raiders, but from the look of the group none of them seemed to have any sort of official training. Logan sighed, he would help the kneeling group if solely to keep his conscience clean, and because he knew if he didn't Nora would be disappointed with him. Raising his rifle Logan began a smooth walk, rifle trained on the closest raider. When he was close enough he smoothly squeezed the trigger. The round flew straight into the closest raiders neck. Not paying any more attention to the dying man Logan began systematically destroying the group.

One raider fell over, a round punching through his eye and exploding out the back. Another two rounds dropped a female raider, blood running down her chest and another punched through he opened mouth. Flipping the safety to automatic, Logan fired a burst at two raiders who were close together, riddling them with bullets. The final one had closed the distance with Logan and lunged with a nasty looking combat knife. Logan let go of his rifle and grabbed the raiders wrist with his right hand guiding it to his right side, before striking raiders elbow, bending the arm backwards. The raider screamed as he felt his are snap before he felt his knee give out as Logan kicked it, causing the raider to fall onto his back. Logan followed through with stomping his foot on the screaming raiders head, swiftly cutting of the screams short.

Logan looked around making sure no other raiders were around before reloading a new magazine and taking the knife and its sheathe from the last dead raider, attaching it to his belt in the small of his back, parallel with the ground. A cry alerted Logan as he looked around for its source, before seeing the dog deal with a raider that had been on the second floor. The raider struggled trying to keep the dogs teeth from his throat. In the end his arms gave out and the dogs teeth sunk into his neck. A few more moments and the raider lay still throat shredded.

"Good job, pal." Logan bent down and rubbed the dogs ears.

"Are you two okay?" Logan asked the two kneeling people, before cutting their bindings.

The woman didn't resold instead moving over to the man whose throat had been cut, and crying.

"You arrived just in the nick of time, but there are more people in the museum. Please help them." the man said rubbing his wrists.

Logan nodded before asking, "How many are there inside?"

The dark skinned man thought for a second before answering, " No more than five, but they were saying that more were coming. If you are going up you need to tell them 'United we stand' it'll help them trust you."

"...ok. You two need to find somewhere to lay low, I'll be back as soon as I can."

Tha man nodded before grabbing the crying woman and leading her to the building that Logan's furry friend had been in.

Logan entered the museum only to have to duck back out as rounds slammed into the walls around his head, sending wood chips cascading all around. Logan ducked back out the door. Taking a breath Logan prepared to enter again, knowing the locations of the shooters. Stepping through the threshold time slowed as Logan's rifle found its placement on the first raider. Shooting while he continued to move out of the fatal funnel, Logan button hooked the door heading for any available cover.

One round connected with the shoulder of one raider, making the man cry out and drop his pistol, a second round took off his jaw. The second raider had been luckier taking two rounds to the chest and another through the bridge of his nose and through his brain, showering brain matter out of the back of his head. Logan looked at the kneeling raider who held his useful hadn over his destroyed face, before sending another round through his skull, ending the man's suffering.

Logan surveyed the areas heading through the only doorway that wasn't blocked. The short hallway led around to another room which contained several maniquins. Logan thought the scene the maniquins were trying to portray was the "Boston Massacre" but he didn't give it much thought as he continued through the exit on the other side of the room. As he stepped through the door a hand shot out and pushed the rifle's barrel down a fist connecting with Logan's temple while maintaining the grip on the barrel. Logan reacted by grabbing his pistol and shooting the attacking raider in the knee, before correcting his aim and cratering the raiders skull.

Shaking his head Logan began advancing again, listening as best he could for any other activity. Exiting the cramped rooms, Logan arrived into an open area, stairs to his right leading up, and a sunken and destroyed floor to his right leading down to a security room containing the museums generator. Besides the fact that the generator was still running after all this time, what caught Logan's eye as he scanned the contraption was the Fusion Core that was inserted into the generator.

Eyeing the terminal that opened the security door Logan weighed the pros and cons of taking the time to get the fusion core. Deciding to take the extra time, Logan walked up to the terminal and was halted as the terminal required a password. Logan was stumped, until he looked at his pipboy and an idea popped into his head. He had used it to get out of the vault, maybe if he hooked it up to the terminal he would be able to bypass the security on the terminal.

Grabbing his pipboy's cord and plugging it into the terminals port Logan waited a moment. A beep sounded from his pipboy and then it changed to a different screen with different words and symbols. Another beep and Logan looked up to the terminal to find it was no longer asking for a password, instead it had been replaced with "Unlock Security Gate." Logan was amazed and a little unbelieving that his idea had worker.

 _What programs are on this thing,_ Logan thought as he eyed his pipboy.

Selecting the Unlock Logan stepped back as the security door swung open. Swiftly entering the little fenced in area, Logan grabbed the Fusion Core and pulled it out of its slot. The lights flickered for a moment before turning back on. Placing the Fusion Core in his bag Logan left the area and ascended the stairs, his original mission the priority again.

Preston had fallen back to the last room they could barricade after the ruthless attack from the Raiders. The feeling of failure clinging to his mind like a tick as three more from his group had perished. The two raiders banging at the door and yelling threats didn't help at all.

"Open this damn door, or we will flay you!" Bellowed a raider

"Ooo, I want the young female," the other chipped in, "she and I will have a great time."

"Shut up, Tie, we nee-" the first raider had been interuppted when a blade pierced the back of his neck, the blade's tip appearing through the front.

The second didn't have anytime to react as the barrel of a pistol appeared front of his face.

"Oh, fu-" was all he said before a bullet tore through his forehead.

Preston heard the commotion, both hopeful and worried.

"Hello?" a voice, different from the other two, came through.

"If you're a raider we have weapons." Preston tried to threaten.

"Well if that were true I wouldn't of had to fight all these raiders for you." The voice responded in an annoyed tone, before saying, "I was told to say, united we stand?"

Preston opened the door after hearing the code phrase, and was met with the icy stare of the individual speaking. This individual had jet black hair, and icy blue eyes, his face would be considered handsome by most everyone. Though his face held a surprising amount of scars, all were faded white lines barely noticeable unless close up. The scars themselves looked to have occurred at the same time if only because they all had the same coloring. If that were the case then whoever stitched, pretty much his whole face, back together must have been a miracle worker.

"Ok, but who told you to say that?" Preston asked, still wary of potential danger.

"I never got a name, I was told to say that by a dark skin man with similar clothes to yours."

"Roy is still alive then?" Preston's voice held hope.

"if That his name, sure. There was another woman who also made it, both should be hiding."

"That's the best news we've had all day. So, it should be safe to move these people then?"

"I'm not so sure about that. Roy, was it? He overheard some of the raiders saying there were more coming, and no he didn't say how many. It would probably be a safe bet to assume this as just a scouting force."

Preston looked back at the group of people sitting around the room, then finally looked at the man who was tapping away at a terminal.

"Sturges, tell him the plan."

The black haired man looked over at the mechanic with an inquisitive look. Sturges, ever the people pleaser smiled and started going over the plan.

"Alright, well we lucked out because on the roof is a crashed vertibird. Well, it looks like one of its passengers left behind a seriously sweet goodie. We're talking a full suit of cherry T-45 Power Armor. Military issue." Sturges, looked to be in the love with the thought of the armor.

The newcomer looked to be slightly impressed so far with the idea before say, "I like it... But wouldn't the Fusion Core be depleted after all this time?"

Sturges smiled before say, "that's where we had a hiccup in the plan there is an F.C. But it's behind a security door."

"Not to worry, I've already grabbed it."

"Good! Now when you get into the armor there should be a mini gun still attached to the vertibird."

"You want me to use that to fight off the incoming raiders?" Logan asked, a small smile forming at the corner of his lips.

"Will you do it?" Preston asked.

"Well I've already stuck my neck out for you and your people, wouldn't be worth it if I left you and you died. So yes, I'll do it. Besides it's a pretty good idea." Logan replied

"If you go out that door and follow the hallway there is a door that leads to the roof at the end. Thank you, again... I apologize we never got your name." Preston stated.

"Logan," the man answered, "and you are?"

"Preston Garvey." Preston answered holding his hand out.

Logan grabbed the hand and shook it.

"Well if we survive this I would like to hear how you were forced into a museum." Logan stated.

"Deal." Preston agreed, letting Logan's hand go.

"I'm going to have to leave my gear with you," Logan stated, eyeing the two men in front of him, "I expect to get it all back when I return."

"Of, course, even if we wanted it we wouldn't be able to do anything against Power Armor and a mini gun." Preston acknowledged.

Logan relieved himself of all his gear except for his pistol which he left on his hip.

"Hey, buddy, you're going to have to stay also." Logan told the dog.

The dog whimpered, but seemed to nod his head. Logan patted the dog's back before moving his hand up and rubbing the dog's ears. Standing Logan turned and started walking to the door when an old woman stopped him.

"Dogmeat sure did bring us some help. Look at ya." The woman observed.

"So, he's your dog then?" Logan asked looking at the Dog as he nudged Preston's hand.

"Ah, he ain't my dog. Dogmeat is what you would call, his own man. He chooses his friends, and sticks with 'em. He'll stay by you now. I saw it."

"You...'saw' it." Logan asked hiding his slight apprehension.

"It's the chems, kid. They give ole Mama Murphy the 'sight'. Been that way for as long as I remember." The woman answered.

"I would like to hear more about this, but there are raiders coming, and I need to get ready for them." Logan interest was slightly piqued, but he had more pressing matters to attend to.

"Ah, of course kid, but first I need to tell you that something is coming. I don't mean those raiders, either. Something big and angry."

"Mama Murphy, please, what is it?" Logan inquired.

"I see... I see... Oh, it's horrible, kid. Claws and teeth and Horns. The very face of death."

"Oh..." Was all Logan could say, on the fence about believing this woman or not.

"Just, be careful, kid." Mama Murphy warned.

"Thank you, ma'am." Logan said walking to the door.

Exiting the room Logan jogged to the roof exit. Pushing through the worn door Logan arrived on the roof, right under one of the side propellers of the crashed Vertibird. Seeing the power armor stationary on the roof Logan moved to it. Looking the armor over for any significant damage, Logan found none that his untrained eyes could see. Inserting the fusion core into the slot in the back of the armor Logan twisted the handles and stood back as the armor slid open. Stepping inside, the armor closed around Logan encasing him and itself with its self contained environment.

Logan tested out the armor getting a feel for it and making sure it ran properly. The HUD displayed the armor's predicted damage threshold, it's radiation gauge, and it's Fusion core power. The fusion core only held 60% of its charge. Logan, now equipped with power armor moved to the vertibird's minigun. Grabbing the "not so mini gun" Logan started pulling. Feeling the gun's stand weakening, Logan wrenched one more time. This caused the minigun to break away from the stand.

Logan, who had never used a minigun before, began running through the gun's mechanisms finding the button to start its rotation and another button to eject the drum of ammunition from the bottom. Logan, feeling at least semi accustomed to the weapon, looked around one more time to make sure he didn't miss anything. What he did miss was another drum of rounds for the minigun placed between the pilot seats. Grabbing the extra drum and attaching to the back of his armor Logan moved to the edge of the building.

"Boss, we got somebody up here." a raider yelled from the building a crossed the street.

Logan spun up his minigun, unleashing a quick burst that separated the raiders chest from his legs. Looking down at the road Logan saw a large group of raiders working their way to the museum.

 _Alright, let's see if you hold up,_ Logan thought as he looked down the building to the ground below.

Without any other thoughts Logan jumped from the roof, quickly accelerating to the ground. Slamming into the ground cement fragmented and was thrown all around the armored man. It only took him a second to reorient himself before he started engaging the encroaching force.

The raiders seeing the Goliath in armor land on ground level started panicking, before their leader yelled, "Alright, boys. The one who takes down this bitch gets to keep the armor."

The raiders cheered and open fired on the Power Armor, the leader stayed back and laughed. He would let the Goliath use up some of his ammo and suit power before he would take him down with the massive gun on his back.

The power armor was holding against the ballistic onslaught as rounds impacted and richocheted barely leaving a scratch. Spinning up his minigun again Logan opened fired on the advancing raiders, all while advancing himself.

Rounds upon rounds were fired from both sides, and the only ones taking casualties were the raiders. Logan's minigun cut swathes of the raiders down. Body parts flew away from their owners, all while others completely evaporated. Logan was a scythe and the raiders his crops. Nothing lived as rounds upon rounds upon rounds destroyed everything. It wasn't until Logan heard the clicking of his minigun that he really looked at the destruction.

Ejecting the spent drum, Logan grabbed the replacement. Before he could fully seat the drum however he felt a round impact his shoulder armor and completely destroying it, stumbling the him. Logan looked for the threat and saw the man wielding a massive rifle. Before he could fire on the new threat, the massive rifle sent another round at Logan, grazing his right leg. The graze was still powerful enough to rip off the outer armor lining.

Logan fumbled with the drum, anxiety taking its toll on his fumbling hands. The man with the massive rifle aimed in one more time, it was at this point that Logan knew he was dead. A red streak appeared over Logan's head and striking the man squarely in the forehead. Both Logan and the dead man had surprised looks on their faces, as Logan turned to the origin of the shot, where he saw Preston wave from a balcony. Logan gave a half-assed wave back, still shocked at the last second turn of event.

A massive rumble echoed through the streets, and then a crash. Logan looked back to the sound as he saw two metal plates burst out of the ground. A massive clawed hand reached out and pulled out an equally massive monster. The remaining raiders, numbering no more than six, fired at the beast. Logan forgot the raiders as well as he saw the horned beast grab the closest raider and ripped him in half, throwing both behind him and running to the next. Screams erupted from the five remaining raiders as the beast juked and ducked, doing a surprising job interfering with the aim of the raiders, and Logan.

It wasn't until the last raider died screaming that the beast actually started to show signs of damage. Sadly, this also meant that the beast was now focused on the last remaining person.

 _Shit, shit, shit, shit,_ Logan thought as he stared moving backwards firing as much as he could.

The beast closed the distance in seconds, ramming head first into Logan. Logan himself, both shocked and surprised, flew through the cab of a nearby semi and exiting through the other side. Slightly dazed Logan shook his head and re-centered his gaze on the beast. Blood flowed freely from the beast now, slowing its movement slightly. Logan aligned his minigun on the beast and pressed the button to fire, only to have it start clicking again.

 _Fuck! Out of rounds at a time like this,_ he thought before shouting "FUUUUCK!"

Looking for anything that could help Logan spotted the massive rifle that had dealt surprising amounts of damage. The only problem now was the fact he had a very angry and wounded beast between him and the rifle. Ripping the hood of the demolished semi Logan spun and through the hood directly at the horned demon. The beast swatted the makeshift frisbee with little effort, but that didn't matter as Logan had used the precious time to run passed the beast to the rifle. Roaring the beast launched itself as Logan dove for the rifle, stopping close enough to grab the rifle. Logan swung the massive gun to the beast and squeezed the trigger, not caring to aim precisely.

His luck showed it's ugly head as the round tore through the beast mouth, splitting half its head apart, its body sliding to a halt inches from Logan's feet.

Standing Logan threw his his into the air and yelled, "FUCK YEAH!"

Still cheering Logan didn't hear or see his HUD telling him that the armor's core had run out, so his cheering was cut short as the suit's back opened and shot him out. Feeling his ass against the cement was the first thing that registered in Logan's mind as he started to roll, finally coming to a stop on his back. He didn't care in the end throwing both his hands up for one more cheer before slipping into the warm embrace of unconsciousness.


	3. Chapter 2

The first thing Logan felt was a wet tongue licking his face. The second was the sound of people talking around him. Opening his eyes and reaching up to rub Dogmeat's ears, Logan saw that he had been moved off the street outside and into the museum again.

"Do either of you have a better idea? Anyone? Then that settles it."

"When Logan wakes up we should head out before it gets too late in the day, the sooner we make it to Sanctuary the better." Preston remarked.

"Sanctuary?" Logan asked, catching the preoccupied group by surprise.

"You've heard of it?" Sturges asked.

"I've heard of Sanctuary Hills, are you talking about that?"

"Sanctuary Hills? There's no way that's a coincidence. Mama Murphy?" Preston turned to see the older woman snoozing on a bench.

Gently shaking the woman awake Preston asked his question again to the still half asleep woman.

"Yeah, kid, it's the same place. Safest place in the Commonwealth, well besides Diamond city of course." Mama Murphy answered.

"So, how do you know this place?" Preston asked, facing Logan again.

"Well... I use to live there... Before all of this," Logan gestured to the rundown building," happened."

"You mean...before the war?" Preston asked.

"What war?"

"The one that gave us this beautiful scenery." Sturges joked.

The answer had been apparent, but Logan hadn't given it a second thought. They were referring to the day that the bombs fell.

"Then yes, before the war." Logan replied.

"You must be one of the most preserved ghouls I've ever seen." Preston remarked, wanting to believe Logan.

"Ghoul? What's a ghoul?"

"You...don't... Know what a ghoul is?" Preston asked in apparent disbelief.

Logan shook his head, appearance still questioning.

"Ghouls are... Irradiated people. Most are like you and I, they just look different, and live a lot longer." Preston fumbled.

"They look like walking corpses." Sturges interjected, "But don't tell them that, they hate it, and most of them are pretty good people too."

"Yeah, Sturges is right. There are the normal ones that can talk and interact with people, then there are the ferals." Preston shivered at the thought of a feral ghoul, "ferals are ferocious, and mindless. They mostly hunt in packs, but there is no reasoning with them. Most people believe that ferals are the ones who's brains are damaged by the radiation."

Preston looked over the group before hanging his head in shame.

"Ferals are one of the reasons we don't have a lot of our group remaining." Preston whispered.

"What happened?" Logan asked.

"I'll tell you on the way, we need to get moving before the sun goes down. I don't want to be here just in case something else had been attracted to the noise, and I definitely don't want to be caught outside after dark.

Logan nodded his head before walking over to where he saw his gear laying on the floor. Preston turned to everyone and started helping them prepare for the walk to Sanctuary. A few minutes later everyone had their gear and began filing out of the museum, Logan leading.

"Now that I think about it, were you able to salvage the rifle that took down that big beast?" Logan asked.

Preston looked back at him and shook his head.

"No we grabbed you and went back into the museum. We didn't know if there were anything else left. That beast is called a Deathclaw, just for future reference."

"Makes sense, it has massive deadly claws."

Both men exited the museum and looked upon the carnage that had been wrought by Logan's efforts. It looked like Logan had repainted the town red, and in a grim sense he did. Body parts lay all over the place, blood had been sprayed over the road and all over the walls of buildings. The Deathclaw still lay on the ground, head split in half, it's blood pooling around it.

Finally, Logan caught sight of the power armor, in its hand it still held the massive rifle. Taking a closer look at the Deathclaw slayer, Logan gasped. This rifle, the one that had easily defeated a Deathclaw was a Chinese made rifle. These rifles were used at the end of the Chinese invasion of Alaska, to take down power armor. It shot .50 cal rounds with ease and were usually used by two man teams. The fact that Logan had encountered one was unbelievable, to be standing after being fired at by this monstrosity was even more so.

 _No wonder it took out my armor so easily,_ Logan thought.

"What's wrong?" Preston asked.

"Rifles like this one were used by the Chinese to destroy Power Armor when they invaded Alsaska." Logan responded.

"Well seeing how easily it tore off your armor I'm not surprised." Preston commented.

"I agree, but it seems crazy that this rifle would be this far east, let alone being used by a raider. We only ever were able to get a few of them, the Chinese would blow up the ones they couldn't get away with. Most were taken back to be studied, but we were able to hold on to a few and use them against the Chinese."

Rounds, explosions, and cries of pain were all that Logan heard as his focus wondered to a past battlefield.

"You okay, Logan?" Preston asked.

Logan shook his head, dispelling the unpleasant thoughts.

"Yeah, just some memories." Logan responded.

Logan struggled to pull the rifle from the hands of the power armor. Slowly, and with the help of any body that could get a grasp, the rifle began shifting. With one united tug the power armor released the rifle and everyone who had helped fell to the cement. Logan was surprised at how light the rifle was compared to what he thought it would be, that being said the rifle was still heavier than the one he carried and it was almost twice as long.

"I plan to leave this at Sanctuary, if anyone wants to learn to use it we have five rounds that can be used for practice, all the others will need to be saved in case of emergency." Logan announced.

"Alright everyone lets go, we need to get to Sanctuary before dark!" Preston said.

"You heard the man!" Sturges smiled as everyone began falling in line for the walk to Sanctuary.

"Roy, will you take up the back?" Preston asked the other dark skinned man.

Roy nodded without a word and fell back behind everyone, scanning their surroundings for any hostiles. Logan took the lead, knowing where they were going, and Preston fell in a a step or two behind.

They had only been on their journey a few minutes when Preston spoke up to Logan.

"If you want to listen now, I did promise to tell you why we're stuck in the museum."

"Okay, Preston, what happened?" Logan asked.

"Sturges, the Longs, Mama Murphy, and Rachel are all from Quincy. Well the Gunners, high end mecenaries, were trying to take Quincy, when Sturges sent out a call requesting help from the Minutemen."

Logan gave a puzzled look, "So I'm going back in time? THe minute men were used during the American Revolution, correct? Citizen soldiers?"

Preson was shocked at the knowledge Logan had on the history of the Minutemen.

"Yes, 'to be ready at a minutes notice,' I'm impressed you knew that. Anyway, Roy and myself were under the command of Colonel Hollis, who answered the call. We were able to hold them off for awhile, but in the end we were betrayed by one of our own." Preston hung his head in shame, "We sent out a call for any other Minutemen but, they turned their back on us. Quincy fell, and most of the remaining Minutemen with it. Roy and I were tasked with getting as many people to safety as we could."

Preson paused, shame and sadness seemed to ooze off of him.

"At first their had been twenty of us, we made our way to Jamica Plain, were we thought we could hold up for a little while, the Gunners attacked us again and sent us retreating, we lost five people their. Next we made it to Lexington. Remember when I said that Ferals are one of the reasons that we have so few today? Lexington was crawling with them, by the time we knew what was going on we lost six more people. Finally, we made it to Concord, and hoped to finally have some peace. Well, as you have seen we were attacked by raiders, we lost one more to them, you saw. And that's how we came to be here."

"That's rough, civilian casualties are always the hardest to take." Logan placed a hand on Preston's shoulder, "but you at least didn't freeze and get your whole group killed. These people today are alive because of your drive."

"They're alive because you were good enough to fight off the raiders, and a Deathclaw." Preston corrected.

"You don't give yourself enough credit." Preston whispered.

The rest of the journey to Sanctuary had been filled with silence as everyone expected to be attacked again. Dogmea, who had remained quiet during Logan and Preston's conversation, began scouting ahead. Periodically sticking his head up to sniff the air, before continuing his patrol.

By the time the group arrived at the wooden bridge the sun had started to set. Logan directed the group to his old home.

"This place is amazing, I should've listened to Mama Murphy all along. I think we can settle down here, make a place to call home." Preston announced.

"I've been meaning to ask you, what were you doing in Concord? I don't mean to pry but there isn't a lot of settlements in this area." Preston asked.

"Well, you've been pretty honest with me so I don't see the harm in telling you. I'm looking for my son. My family and I were frozen inside a vault, Vault 111." Logan pointed up at the cliff that held the vault, "Well the vault was a cryogenics facility that had been tasked with testing on 'unaware' participants the effects of long term suspended animation. Well the personnel had everyone get into pods to decontaminate them from any radiation they had. After everyone had been secured inside the pods we were frozen. I was brought out of stasis long enough to see a scarred man and a few people dressed in Hazmat suits take my son and... Kill my wife, Nora"

Logan voice broke as he relived the memories that only seemed to of happened yesterday.

"I... I'm sorry, that is terrible. Let me know what I can do to help. We can still find him?" Preston offered.

"Thanks, Preston. Let's get some sleep, I need to figure out what my next move is. That can wait till tomorrow though."

Mama Murphy, who had stayed with the two men as everyone else began entering the building gave an piped up, "Kid, I can't tell you where but I can tell you now that you're son is alive. I feel his energy. I would say the best bet is to go to Diamond City."

"My son is alive!? Mama Murphy where is Diamond City?" Logan asked, his emotions were skyrocketing.

"I'll mark it on your Pipboy's map, but you need to realize that you can't go to Diamond City right now, you need to rest." Mama Murphy stated.

Logan nodded, taking the reigning in his emotions.

"Master Logan, sir." Codsworth appeared. "Who are these people, sir?"

"Codsworth these people are friends, will you help them get settled inside the house please?" Logan asked the robot.

"Yes, sir. I wish I would have known we were having guests, I would have made something for everyone." Codsworth responded.

"It's ok Codsworth, it wasn't really planned." Logan smirked at the bot.

Everyone in the group entered the old house and began laying out sleeping bags. Logan walked to the spare closet and grabbed some dust old blankets and offered them to the group of people. With two remaining Logan laid out one on the ground before plopping down on the fabric, his gear assembled neatly next to him. The final blanket he pulled over himself, once situated Dogmeat made his way to Logan, spinning a few times the dog laid down against Logan's leg. Logan drifted to sleep quickly.

Logan awoke to sun beams creeping onto his face. Sitting up he noticed that only to the Minutemen were not present. Dogmeat looked up at Logan waiting for him to do something. Standing Logan donned his gear and made his way outside, spotting the two men further down the road.

"We can't just leave the people here to fend for themselves." Roy stated.

"I know that, but we can't just ignore a call for help, we are Minutemen." Preston retorted.

"Is there something going on gentlemen?" Logan asked, making the two conversing men flinch at his sudden appearance.

"We got a call for help over the radio, a settlement is being harassed by some raiders and they know where the raider's base is." Preston stated.

"Preston wants to go after the raiders, but we have these people to take care of, we can't just leave them here. None of them are fighters." Roy pointed out.

"I'd... Be willing to help." Logan offered reluctantly.

"You don't need to, we realize you need to find your son." Preston answered.

"Well, Mama Murphy says he's still alive, and I feel like she would have said something if he were in danger." Logan answered a little unsure.

"If it helps the raiders are holed up in a Corvega Assembly Plant, in Lexington..." Preston shivered at the towns name.

Dogmeat whined at this.

"Lexington? That's the place with the Feral Ghouls? Wouldn't that mean the raiders are probably having to deal with the Fearls?" Logan asked.

"It would seem that the raiders have decided to try and exterminate the ghouls and set up shop." Roy said.

"If you did help the Lexington is on its way to Diamond City." Preston informed Logan.

"Well even better for me then, you ready to go now?" Logan asked Preston.

Preston looked over at Roy with a questioning gaze, Roy subtly nodded before walking back to the hous.

"What was that look for?" Logan asked as both men began walking towards the bridge.

"If we survive this I will tell you, deal?" Preston answered.

"Okay?" Logan questioned, before turning to Dogmeat, "Ok boy, I have to go will you stay here and keep these people safe?"

Dogmeat tilted his head, before barking.

"I'll take that as a yes?"

Another bark from Dogmeat before the dog turned around and walked back to the house, following Roy.

The journey hadn't took an hour and a half, but both men arrived at the outskirts of Lexington without any hassle. Logan noticed the old buildings standing defiantly against time. Progressing through the town Logan and Preston were surprised at the quietness of their surroundings. Something was wrong.

"It didn't take this long before we were attacked by ferals the last time." Preston whispered to Logan.

"Maybe the raiders are doing a good job of taking them out." Logan thought aloud.

The two men continued to scan their surroundings as they passed underneath an arch, when a sudden gasping scream erupted from above them. Looking up Logan saw figured begin falling out of the window towards them. Grabbing Preston, Logan sprinted out of the way as the first body hit the ground. Looking back Logan was shocked as the bodies began standing and looking at Logan.

"Ferals!" Preston exclaimed, grabbing his laser musket and firing a bolt at the closest feral.

Logan winced as he finally saw what they looked like. Patches of skin were gone along with any hair they had. The clothes, or at least on the ones who had clothing, was tattered and shredded. Sturges had been correct, these things looked like corpses. Logan raised his rifle and shot a round right into the chest of the next oncoming feral, the thing fell to the ground and writhed. Logan and Preston started walking backwards and firing as the horde began to grow in numbers, more ferals appearing from old stores, and apartments.

"We need to push into the plant, I'd rather deal with the raiders, than be stuck out here with these things." Logan announced, firing another few rounds into the amassing onslaught of near undead. Running up the small incline Logan and Preston were met with a hail of bullets whizzing over their heads, and taking out the first layer of the advancing ferals. Diving to their immediate left Logan and Preston found cover behind a stone wall.

"We need to keep moving the ferals are coming fast!" Preston stated.

"We can't compete with all that fire power, attacking the front door would be suicide." Logan added as he scanned for any way out.

Logan's eyes fell on a broken pipe that led underneath the plant. Pulling Preston towards it, both men entered the pipe expecting the worst. Logan took lead as they followed the pipe, Preston keeping an eye on the read just in case any ferals follow. The pipe continued for a little while before a whole appeared that passed through the pipe and the wall, and lead into the facility itself. Before Logan could stop him, Preston stepped through the hole and stepped on a tin can. The sound echoed in the small room, and two sets of eyes landed on them. The ferals screeched and attacked both men, Preston stabbed forward with his musket and pushed a feral back before firing into it's stomach, downing the creature. Logan moved to fire his rifle but the feral had closed in too fast for him, so he ducked down and stuck out his foot, tripping the thing. A simple trick to get out of the way and give him an advantage had worked wonders, as the creatures momentum carried it forward into the pipe and smashing it's face into the hard surface. A loud crack greeted the two men as the creature lay still.

"That was lucky." Preston observed.

"Yeah, well let's hope that wasn't all the luck we had." Logan responded before looking through the room.

The two men found the wreckage of a turret, and a body of a raider. The raider was male, from what the men could tell from the mangled remains. Not finding anything useful the men began advancing down a hallway, trying to finish the raiders up before the ghouls made their way inside the building.

The building was close to empty, except for a raider here and there. This observation lead Logan to believe that the feral problem outside was worse than he had previously thought. The two men made their way through the the plant until they arrived at a massive room where the cars were assmebled.

"What do you mean you can't hold them off?" A raider yelled.

"Boss, there are too many of them, way more than before." Another responded, "if we take any more losses we aren't going to be able to come back from this."

"Fine! Get your shit, grab whoever you think is loyal, then meet me in the back. Leave everyone else to their fate." The first raider commanded.

The screeching of ferals started growing louder, as the horde began making their way through the building.

"Fuck, they got in. Fuck everything we are leaving, no time to grab shit, let's go before it's too late." The commanding raider said.

"Preston there is a door here that leads outside," Logan observed, "I'm thinking we hold them from leaving here and when the horde arrives we shoot the engine block of those cars."

Logan pointed to some of the complete cars that were stationed in the room.

"Their batteries are still explosive so we should be able to take out the raiders, and some of the horde." Logan announced.

"That idea is suicidal, but it would make sure the raiders are at least taken care of."

"Hey, you! Who the fuck are you." The leader roared, finding Preston and Logan.

Preston and Logan fired at the group of raiders, trying to the keep them away from the exit. The sound of the horde was growing louder, as the firefight continued. A round whizzed passed Logan's head, causing him to duck back out the door. Preston fired again striking a raider in the chest.

"These ghouls need to hurry up!" Preston shouted over the incoming fire.

As if summoned by his command a loud screeching from multiple ferals. The time had come.

"Preston fire at the engines, the explosion should take out the whole room!" Logan commanded.

Both men opened fired on the closest car destroying the once beautiful car. Once the vehicle started on fire both men closed the exit and jammed some debris to keep the door shut, turned and sprinted away from the building. An explosion rocked both men, causing them to stumble slightly. Another explosion shook the two men, then another. The explosions came one after another in quick succession before finally a huge explosion, which threw the two men off a ten foot drop, sent debris crashing down on the surrounding area. The two men stunned by the explosion and the resulting fall could only watch as the remaining parts of the building began falling in on itself.

"Do you think they are dead yet?" Logan asked, still watching as the Plant crumbled.

"Well I really wouldn't want to meet anyone who could survive that." Preston replied.

"Come on, we should probably get out of here in case this brings any unwanted visitors.

Both men began walking away from the burning building, it's smoke blacking out part of the sun.

Both men were unaware of a set of glasses watched them walk, the pair of eyes behind the glasses taking in every single detail.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

With a sigh of relief both Logan and Preston sat down on old worn out furniture, inside a building that was run down and sagging on its foundation.

"I can't believe that worked." Preston admitted after a few minutes of silence, a grin slowly spreading over his face.

"Well I honestly wasn't expecting to demolish the whole building. I'm just glad we weren't stuck in there when everything went up in the blast."

Both men looked at each other and laughed. THe fact they had survived such a sucidal plan had them thanking whatever forces-to-be were watching over them. AFter a few minutes of unbridled laughter both men grew silent, still maintaining their jovial attitudes.

"So, now that we survived I would like to ask you something." Preston announced.

"Is that so?" Logan asked, looking at the Minuteman.

"As you know Roy and I are the only two Minutemen left. Well, we were talking earlier and we decided that if you offered to help us with the raiders we would ask you to join the Minutemen." Preston looked at Logan with hopeful eyes before continuing, "we realize you are looking for your son and we want to help. On top of that we both agree that you have way more experience than us in combat, and well it seems like everything else, we were hoping you wouldn't just join but lead the Minutemen."

Logan was blown away by the honesty that Preston. A few moments passed before Logan answered.

"I... Well I'm honored that you think so highly of me, but you don't really even know me? Why would you offer that to me?" Logan asked.

"As I stated before you have experience, but you also are willing to help people you don't even know. Like us, back in Concord. Or the settlers of Tenpines Bluff, you helped by taking out the raiders at the Corvega plant. And besides Mama Murphy said 'you are a great man, destined for greath things.' That's enough for me to stand by."

"I want you to know that I will continue to look for my son," Logan looked at Preston who nodded, "but my wife would kill me if I didn't help those in need. So I agree to join the Minutemen, but I'm not entirely sure about being the leader."

"Well, it's a good thing that I will be by you the whole time... General." Preston smirked at the look Logan had.

Said look included eyes that were wide open and a mouth that hung slack.

"That's... A rather big promotion you gave me." Logan said still in a small amount of shock.

"The leader of the Minutemen has always held the rank of General. And the positive side, of Roy and myself being the only Minutemen left, is there isn't anyone around to argue with us when we say you are the General."

"No kidding." Logan agreed with the dark but rational thought.

Looking at his pipboy's map and the time, Logan was surprised to find that his pipboy was picking up several radio signals. One that caught his eye though was one that was named: Military Frequency AF95. Selecting the the broadcast Logan was met with a females voice.

"-it has sustained casualties, and we are running low on supplies. We are requesting support or evac from Cambridge Police Station."

Logan looked over to Preston and raised an eyebrow.

"Well, we should probably go and help if we can." Logan stated.

"Yes, General." Preston agreed.

"Don't start that, just call me Logan."

Without another word both men started collecting their gear and making their way outside. Logan roughly knew where he was going, having been in Cambridge a time or two before the bombs. It hadn't taken the men too long before they heard the sounds of guns firing and a few explosions.

"We should probably pick up the pace." Logan stated, starting into a light jog.

Following the sounds of the firefight, both men cam to an open area that was littered with ghouls and raiders. The shooting was not taking place here but further up the road, where Logan could see massive amounts of Ferals running to the police station.

"Ferals? Again?" Preston asked.

Logan grunted in reply, before raising in his rifle, "Well, we either go in and see if those are the remaining raiders, or we hang back and let them get overrun. I think we should go in solely for the fact that it seems like raiders wouldn't be talking over the radio."

"I agree, I have never heard a raider asking for help over the radio." Preston responded.

Logan aimed in on the closest Feral finally noticing the barricade that was effectively funneled the walking corpses.

 _It would seem that we have some tactical thinking individuals,_ Logan thought.

Logan opened fire on the group.

Paladin Danse reloaded as he saw more and more Ferals pour into the compound. It seemed that the Ferals were never ending, but that didn't stop him from fighting. The Paladin aimed and fired, maintaining control of his laser rifle, and acquiring target after target. Each shot lanced through the air, creating the smell of ozone, and piercing heads and torsos. Shot after shot, and the Ferals kept coming, the bodies starting to build at the entrance, which helped the Paladin as the Ferals began tripping over their fallen.

One feral approached and met its end as the Paladin easily punched through its fragile skull. Another came close and before Paladin Danse could react it's head exploded and its brain matter covered the awestruck Paladin. Looking at the cause of the Ferals demise Danse spotted a man holding a wicked looking rifle, it's whispered shots ending more Ferals, a second man behind him fired a laser rifle he had never seen before.

Danse continued firing on the Ferals, but kept an eye on the two individuals who had entered his complex. The Paladin watched as the first man fired with astounding accuracy, head shots or torsos never a shot anywhere that wouldn't take down the Ferals. He continued to engage but was astounded again at the fluid reload the man did, as said man flicked his hand dislodging the magazine all while maintaining his aim at the entrance, and loaded a magazine his eyes again never leaving where he was aiming. The second man, the one dressed in a duster and carrying a laser rifle, fired periodically. This man would take out the Ferals that were slightly farther out. Fire, crank, fire, crank, the laser rifle wielding man had to turn a crank every time he fired, which slowed down his rate of fire, but for every two shots Danse had to take to down a feral that man only had to shoot once.

This continued until the next time the man ran dry. Before being able to reload the man was attacked by two ghouls. The first one he ducked under the Ferals flailing arms, the second one he kicked its knee, causing the whole leg to bend backwards with a resounding snap. The man pulled out a pistol that had been holstered on his side and fired a round into each of the ghouls heads, before turning and unloading the rest of his magazine into the last remaining ghouls.

The Paladin was met with silence as he looked around for any more hostiles. All that met his eyes were the bodies of over 40 Ferals. His attention was brought back to the two men when he heard the sound of a bolt slamming forward. Looking back at the two men he was met with their stares.

"We appreciate the assistance, civilian. But what's your business here?" Paladin Danse asked the two individuals.

"We heard your broadcast requesting assistance." The, Danse noticed, scarred man answered.

"We thank you for your help, but how did you pick up our-. Ah I see, you have a pipboy."

Danse looked over both men to make sure he didn't miss anything else. The scarred man was wearing the normal civilian clothing, but he had a vest that carried his magazines, on his back he had a backpack. If what Danse could see the backpack had a rifle attached to it.

The second man had a duster and hat with it's side pinned up. In his hand he held the laser rifle. On the second mans back was small pack, nothing unusual about either.

"Yeah..." The scarred man answered reluctantly.

"Are you from a local settlement then?" Danse asked, still trying to get more information out of the individuals.

"Do all these questions really matter? We provided assistance with the Ferals." The scarred man pointed out.

"You make a fair point. If I appear suspicious it's because sense we arrived here in the Commonwealth my team and myself have been under constant fire." Paladin Danse admitted. "If you would continue to help pitching in, we need an extra gun on our side."

"I wouldn't mind helping out, if my companion here doesn't mind." the first man answered before looking at his companion, who nodded affirmation, "But before we both agree I would like to know who you are."

Paladin Danse looked back at the two remaining members of his team before deciding that it would benefit the team if he got these two individuals to help with their next mission, so he decided the truth was the best path to take.

"I am Paladin Danse, of the Brotherhood of Steel. Over there," Danse pointed to the two individuals by the police station entrance, "are Scribe Haylen and Knight Rhys. I would like to know the names of you two."

"I'm Logan," the scarred man answered before turning to his companion and giving him a weird look.

"And I'm Preston." The second man announced.

"Well, Logan, Preston if you would still like to help we are on Recon duty and we are down a man." Danse left out the fact that their supllies were low, he didn't need to admit everything to the two individuals here. "We are trying to get a distress call to our superiors, but our signals too weak to reach them."

"Sir, if I may," Haylen interjected.

"Proceed, Haylen."

"I've modified the radio tower on the roof of the police station. Our signal is still too weak, what we need is something that will boost our signal." Haylen explained to the two men.

"Our target is ArcJet Systems, it contains what we require... A deep range transmitter," explained Danse, "Our mission is to infiltrate ArcJet, secure the transmitter and meet back up here."

The man named Logan, contemplated the mission before looking up at the Paladin.

"I have two questions. First, how far is ArcJet. Second, what opposition are we looking at.

"From our reading on the building it should be just shy of a two kilometers from our current location. As for your second question, there shoudn't be anything more than the automated security. That said, we should be ready for anything." Danse answered.

"Okay, Preston you good to go?" Logan asked.

Danse looked over at the duster clad Preston.

"Yes, sir." Preston answered.

Danse narrowed his eyes slightly, the "yes, sir." Preston gave Logan was a professional courtesy. In Danse's experience that meant these two were not just ordinary wasters, which he picked up on when they entered his facility.

Danse pushed the thought aside for future reference, right now he had two men who knew how to fight, so he wouldn't say no to their help. The Paladin turned and marched to the entrance of the police station, where Haylen and Rhys were.

"Haylen bind his wounds."

"Yes, sir"

"Rhys, once you are one your feet, I need you to do a perimeter sweep."

"I'm on it."

Danse looked over at the two men behind him, "alright, head into the police station and restock, once your ready we will move out."

Both men nodded and followed the Paladin through the worn doors of the station.

Logan looked around the reception area inside the station and noticed an ammo box. Stepping up to it he looked through it to, hopefully, find some 5.56. To his disappointment he found none, what he did find was a few boxes of 10mm and a box of .308, which he grabbed. Logan tossed a few fusion cells to Preston.

"Alright, doc. How am I doing?" Rhys asked Haylen.

"I don't know, your prognosis looks grim. It might just be more humane to take you out back and shoot ya." Haylen joked.

Rhys laughed, "You're all heart, doc."

"Just quit squirming so I can put these bandages on."

Logan walked up to the towering Paladin.

"Danse, we are ready."

"Outstanding. Follow me, and try not to lag behind."

The Paladin donned his helmet before grabbing his laser rifle and moving to the door. Once all three men were outside the station Paladin Danse took lead and started their trek to ArcJet.

They walked for awhile, Paladin Danse explaining why the need for the transmitter was mission essential, and to avoid the Ferals they were going to the outskirts of Cambridge. The trek itself had only stopped twice. Once, to save a merchant and her guards from raiders, who all were very grateful. And the second, because a group of wild dogs decided to try and make a meal out of the three men. Both stops were ended quickly and violently for the opposing force.

Once the group arrived at the front entrance to ArcJet Danse turned to the men.

"Alright we do this quick and quiet, by the book."

"Understood." Logan and Preston answered.

"Outstanding."

The three men entered the rusted and decrepit building. The inside was exactly what would be expected of a post apocalyptic building. Trash and debris littered the floor, the stairs were collapsed, and the Windows were all busted out.

"It was corporations like this that drove the last nail in the coffin for mankind." Danse stated.

Logan looked around, he really couldn't deny that, the Paladin wasn't wrong.

"They exploited technology for their own personal gains, pocketing the money and ignoring the damage they'd done."

Danse led the way through the delipidated building, until they arrived at the security checkpoint. What greeted them were the twisted and destroyed remains of what had once been ArcJet's automated security.

"Look at these wrecks. It appears as through this facilities automated security have already been dealt with."

"I see that. So who did take out the security?" Logan asked to no one in particular.

"These robot were assaulted by Institute synths. If you look at the evidence. There aren't any spent shell casings, and no blood." Danse pointed out.

"Ok now I have two questions. When you say Synths do you mean like robots? What's the difference?" Logan inquired.

"Synths are an abuse of technology, created by the Institute. Abominations meant to improve one humanity."

"Ok, so they are robotic people? And who is the Institute?"

"They were a group of scientists who went underground when the Great War started. For the last few decades they've been littering the Commonwealth with their technological nightmares."

"Roger that. I'll be on the lookout."

"Good, let's continue."

Danse took the lead, making his way throughout the facility. A short time later the group walked into, what Logan assumed, an office. Tables, filing cabinets, paper, pieces of the ceiling, all these things were strewn haphazardly through the room. Logan saw a terminal in the middle of the room and approached the derelict machine.

 **ARCJET SYSTEMS | ARCNET**

 **PASSWORD REQUIRED**

Hooking his pipboy into the universal port Logan began the hacking sequence. A few moments later the terminal beeped and its screen pulled up a few tabs to choose from. Choosing the security door selection, Logan pressed a few more buttons the group was greeted to the sounds of a click and hiss, the security door unlocking and opening.

"Target acquired." a male robotic voice announced.

Logan took only a second to look at, what he assumed was, a synth. The robotic being had grey skin bisected with what looked liked lines. Part of the beings 'skin' had been destroyed as circuits and metal could be seen underneath.

Blue laser impacted around Logan's head as he ducked behind the desk. Preston and Danse returned fire, catching the synths by surprise. Logan popped up from his cover and began gliding to the side, aiming and firing at the Synths. The battle lasted less than a minute, but by the time they were finished the room was even more of a mess.

"Those were synths." Danse stated.

"That was not what I thought they would be." Logan stated.

The group continued through a hole in the wall and into another room that was fille with even more synths.

Logan started firing at the synths as he and Preston moved for cover, Danse taking the attention off them ran forward and grabbed a synth by the head. Squeezing the synths skull collapsed in on itself and sparks flew out of the top. Danse looked for another and fired his laser rifle. Logan and Preston had found cover when they opened more direct fire at the opposing synths. Logan's rounds punctured the pseudo-skin and destroyed internals. Preston's laser fire disintegrated and melted the synths bodies.

After the skirmish Logan set about looking at his remaining ammunition for his assault rifle, what he found caused him to grimace.

"I only have a four more magazines left for my assault rifle." Logan stated.

Danse leaned down and grabbed an Institute rifle, tossing it to Logan.

"They carry the average Fusion Cell." Danse stated as he tossed a few fusion cells to Logan.

Logan tested the weapon. Logan ejected the loaded fusion cell and loaded another, fired a shot off to get a feel for the gun. Satisfied that he would at least be able to shoot at enemies he nodded to his group, and strapped his assault rifle to the other side of his backpack. Danse approached a door and began kicking it open, the door groaned, and with a shriek of metal on metal it burst open.

The group advanced through several corridors, destroyed a few turrets, and marched down a few levels of stairs. Finally the group arrived at the Engin core of ArcJet, only to find that the elevators were powered off.

"Scout the maintenance area for a way to turn the elevators on." Danse pointed to a small passage that led away from the Engine core.

Logan nodded and moved through the maintenance area, Preston trailing behind. It wasn't long before the two came to a powered terminal, browsing the terminal contents Logan found the Auxiliary Power controls. Selecting the power on option Logan was met with the overhead lights flicking on. Not even a second later Logan and Preston hear laser rifle fire coming from the core. A veritable horde of synths were overrunnning Paladin Danse.

"You know, if the power is on, don't you think the engine on that rocket will start up?" Preston questioned.

"We couldn't put his life in that much danger, besides what's the fun in letting the rocket take everything out?" Blue responded.

Preston's lips turned up at the corners slightly before following the General out of the maintenance room.

The ensuing battle was long and cramped. By the end of it the Paladin had considerably more marks on his armor. All three of the men were exhausted as they each crammed into the elevator.

"You think this elevator can hold all of us?" Preston asked.

Logan shrugged, and Danse grunted. The elevator in question had a moment where it wouldn't budge, but after a few groans it began its Ascension.

"zzzft floor." the elevator announced as the group arrived.

Blue lasers were reflected off of Danse's armor as the doors opened. Danse didn't even slow as he entered the room and started shooting down the opposing synths. Preston and Logan started shooting as they moved from the elevator and into a more defensible position. The five synths were whittled down into spare parts in a matter of seconds.

"That should be the last of them." Danse announced. "Fan out and search for the transmitter, hopefully it's still here"

After a few minutes of searching Preston announced to the two men that he had found it.

"Great now we can take this service elevator to the surface." Danse walked over to the elevator and hit the call button.

Another short elevator ride later and the group was met with a setting sun.

"It'll be dark before we arrive at the police station. First, I would like to reward you both," Danse pulled one of the rifles he had attacked to the back of his armor and handed it to Logan, "I sadly don't have another to give out, but I would like to ask you both if you would join the Brotherhood?"

Preston looked over at Logan.

"It would be an honor to join, but I'm currently searching for my son." Logan explained, trying not to upset the Titan, "and I can't stop searching for him. Though if you ever need help again I'll be there."

Danse seemed a little withdrawn, but after Logan explained he was looking for his son Danse seemed to accept his rejection without any hard feelings.

"Though I can't say I'm happy that you won't be joining, I understand. And as for you helping us, if we receive the needed reinforcements then I would like to help you in return." Danse offered, "And know that my offer still stands."

Logan nodded, "If it's alright with you we will still accompany you back to the station. We need to find a place to bunk down for the night, could we stay at the station?"

Danse nodded, and began walking back to the station.

By the time the group arrived at the station it was full on night. All three men were beyond exhausted from all the walking and fighting, as soon as they entered the building and Danse handed Haylen the transmitter Preston and Logan stumbled to a corner and sat against the wall.

"Well General, how was that for the first day on the job?" Preston whispered.

"Well, it definitely wasn't boring."

Both men chuckled lazily before nodding off.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Logan watched as the sun started to peek over the horizon. It was a beautiful sunrise, but his thoughts were plagued by memories.

 _Logan laid in the embrace of a beautiful woman, his wife. His wife. He couldn't stop thinking about the fact that the two were married now. It had seemed like such a short time since they had even started dating officially. But here he lay the stunning woman snoring softly, hair sprawled over, and curled up next to him. Logan traced circles on her back, admiring the soft, slightly tanned skin._

 _A shiver, a halted breath, and finally a stirring. The woman opened her eyes and smiled at Logan. Her eyes held the love he had become so reliant on, but there was something else in her eyes, something mischievous. Without a word her lips met his. Logan smiled into the kiss. After what had seemed like a moment kiss ended. Logan opened his eyes to look at his wife. He saw her lips move but couldn't hear her talk._

" _Nora?" Logan asked._

 _More movement from her lips. He finally sat up from the bed, only to watch in horror as the beautiful moment in his life slowly faded and was replaced by the worst. Logan was trapped in the cryo pod again, screaming. His wife looked at him in horror, Shaun crying in her arms. He watched in agony as the scene played out again, the mysterious people trying to take Shaun, Nora's murder, and finally the face of the man who had shot Nora. It was almost as if he were living the memories again._

Logan shook his head, trying to dispel his grief and hopelessness. He had seen friends die in combat, and civilians lose everything they own, but he had never thought that he would lose Nora, not in the way he did. It plagued him at how helpless he had been in protecting his family, the two people he would do anything for. He hated himself for everything.

He finally had a distraction when he heard Preston shift and begin waking up.

"General?" Preston asked, coming more awake as he saw the other man.

"Preston, you know you don't have to call me that, especially when no one is around." Logan commented.

Preston looked at the General, smiled, then responded with a 'yes, sir.' Scrounging through his bag, Preston found two cans of cram, he tossed one to Logan and held on to the second. Logan pulled open the lid and couldn't decide if he should be appalled or happy that the contents of the can had been pretty well preserved after all this time. Shrugging, Logan bent the lid into a makeshift spoon and began eating his breakfast.

About half an hour later the two men walked out of the Cambridge Police Station, and were greeted with the sun, which had further separated itself from the horizon. Having said their farewells to the Brotherhood scouting party, the two men began walking, hoping to make it to Diamond City before midday.

The journey had been uneventful until the two men approached a bridge. Said bridge had been halfway raised and now had a boat crammed underneath, the boats cabin effectively halting any movement for the rest of the ship. The boat itself, Logan noticed, was unimpressive. What caught the Generals eye was the barge that the boat was pulling. Logan spotted, through his rifle scope, two Armored Personnel Carriers. Movement pulled his attention from the military vehicles as he spotted, if judging by the makeshift armor, raiders.

"Preston, there are raiders on the barge behind that boat." Logan pointed out.

"I see them, General. What do you want to do about them?"

Logan contemplated their next plan of action.

"Well, I don't have many rounds life for my assault rifle, but I have plenty for this one," Logan gestured to the scoped rifle on his back, "The problem is, we will be making a lot of noise, so we may be drawing unwanted attention to ourselves. The good thing is they only have one way to get to us and it's the bridge. Our second option, is to try and sneak passed them. Which if we succeed someone else will have to deal with them, or, if we don't succeed we would be put at a disadvantage."

Preston nodded, tightening his grip on his laser musket.

"General, we wouldn't be Minutemen if we walked away from a threat to the people of the Commonwealth." Preston stated, his gaze trained on the meandering raiders.

Logan nodded, and felt the sides of his mouth tug upwards slightly.

"That's good to hear. So here's my plan."

Logan explained to Preston his plan. The two men would make a little sniper nest, using the gaps in the stone railing to fire from. This would help conceal the muzzle flash from the rifle, and their position. Preston would work as a spotter, calling off any movement he saw from the barge, while also keeping an eye on their surroundings. Logan would be the triggerman, attempting to put down as many of the raiders he could before they found his position.

"Ready?" Logan asked.

"Ready." Preston responded, eyes scanning for movement.

Logan, looked through his scope and spotted four raiders. Two were sitting by a fire pit, cooking their breakfast. The other two were talking to each other on the opposite end of the barge from the two cooking. . Movement caught Logan's eye as he shifted his sights to the cabin of the boat, where a fifth raider stood watch over the bridge. Waiting for the natural pause in his breathing Logan smoothly pulled the trigger.

The first shot found its way into the throat of the raider look-out, a good shot at this distance. Logan pulled back on the bolt ejecting the spent casing and ramming the bolt back forward, seating another round. It only took a moment but the four other raiders all had their weapons drawn and were scanning for the threat. Another round, another dead raider with a nice little hole below his left eye. Blood splattered the other cooking raider as he looked up with dread, right into the faraway eyes of Logan.

'Fuck' was the word Logan read from the man's lips before another round took him down.

The two on the back of the barge had jumped down and were now attempting to make their way into one of the APCs. That is until Logan dropped a shot into one of the raider's legs. The man screamed, or that is what Logan guessed as he couldn't hear the wails of the wounded man. Logan lined up another shot to end the fallen raider, but was surprised when the second raider went back to his fallen comrade and attempted to get the man on his feet. Logan sighted down the unwounded raider, and fired a shot through his back. Both raiders fell to the ground, one screaming and the other silent. Logan aimed for, what he hoped, the last time and fired. The final raider's cries were cut short as the round entered his opened mouth and exited out the back of his head.

"That was some very good shooting, General." Preston commented.

"Hmm, I agree." Logan agreed, frowning slightly, "I'm actually surprised, I haven't ever shot moving targets with this rifle, especially at this range."

Both men gathered their gear and made their way to the barge.

Arriving at the old boat, Logan walked down the rickety wooden stairs, the laser rifle Danse gave him at the ready. Preston split off and searched the raider sentry. Logan cleared the barge, making sure nothing dangerous popped out and attempted to kill him or Preston.

A few minutes Preston arrived holding a decent 10mm pistol, some rounds, and a small pouch.

"Everything good, sir?" Preston asked.

"Yeah, everything should be good now. What's with the pouch?"

Preston handed the General the worn leather pouch. Giving Preston a questioning look, Logan opened the pouch. What greeted the General was a handful of bottle caps.

"Bottle caps?" Logan asked.

"Yes, sir?" Preston questioned the General, before understanding spread across his face, "Sir, bottle caps are our currency now."

Logan laughed. It was funny, he felt almost like a kid playing make-believe. He stopped laughing after a few moments.

"You're not pulling my leg are you?" Logan asked.

"No, sir." Preston stated, not finding it as hilarious as Logan.

"Well, I mean it makes sense I guess," Logan said, giving back the pouch, "we should finish looting whatever we can here and head out."

"Yes, sir." Preston responded moving to the first two raider corpses.

Logan walked to the closest APC, the back ramp down. Inside Logan found several ammo boxes, a gun made out of wood planks and metal pipes, and a few bottles of purified water. Prying open the first of the ammo cans, Logan let out a celebratory 'yes!' Stacked neatly inside the ammo can were boxes of 5.56. Logan immediately set his Laser rifle down and began loading his assault rifle's magazines. Logan was so focused on loading his magazines he didn't hear Preston step up into the back of the APC.

"Everything alright, sir?" Preston asked.

Logan flinched a little, not paying attention to Preston's arrival.

"I found 5.56 rounds, finally!" Logan announced triumphantly.

Preston smiled before starting to pick through the remaining containers.

In the end both men had found a total of 600 5.56 rounds, 300 10mm, and 100 .44 rounds. The two men also ended up with two bottles of water each. This lead Logan to believe that the raiders had just succeeded in opening the APC. With heavier bags both men smiled as they made their way off the barge and up the wooden stairs to the bridge, finally continuing on their journey to Diamond City.

Logan noticed, as they ventured further into the city, that there was more damage to the buildings themselves. Signs of battle, both old and new decorated the once prosperous city. Debris littered the streets, making walking through the streets slow and tedious.

Logan noticed as the buildings seemed to be better in condition as the two men closed in on Diamond City. Signs decorated the sides of the roads, arrows pointing up the road with 'Diamond City' sketched in crooked handwriting.

"It looks like we are getting close." Logan stated.

Preston nodded, scanning the surroundings for any threats. The two walked passed a makeshift barricade and met a man wearing baseball gear, rifle held in his hands.

"You two making your way to Diamond City?" The man asked, voice rough and strained.

"Yes." Logan answered shortly.

The man nodded and pointed up the road, "just follow that road, you will be at the entrance in a few minutes."

Logan thanked, what he assumed was, the guard before stepping away from the man. He had only gotten about five feet away when another man dressed the same as the first stumbled up the man.

"Sir, there are Super Mutants heading this way, they got Dom."

"Oh shit. How many?" the first guard asked, coughing into his hand.

"No more than six, but they have hounds with the-."

The new guard was cut off by the sounds of a howl echoing off the walls of the buildings. Logan turned to the sounds and found something horrifying. The four legged animal was green and muscle bound, its mouth stretched back exposing razor sharp teeth longer than Logan's index finger. Logan raised his rifle and fired, trying to stop the howl of the hound.

A few rounds peppered the flanks of the mutant hound cutting off its howl but not killing it. The hound looked at the offending nuisance and spotted Logan's dumbfounded look.

"Aim for the head!" Preston shouted.

Logan adjusted his fire and fired a few rounds into the hounds head. The rounds had their intended affect as the hound began stumbling, until it fell on its stomach and lay still.

"GET DAT HUMAN!"

Logan looked to the thing that had shouted and was met with a humanoid being. Standing much taller than himself. Green skin, muscles, armor made of car parts. This being was intimidating.

Rounds ricocheted around Logan and Preston as both men dove for cover. Preston cranked his laser musket and peaked over their cover to fire a shot. As he pulled the trigger a green blur dove into him, forcing him to the ground. The mutant hound had its teeth sunk into Preston's musket, the only thing keeping Preston from being a full course meal for a very angry green dog.

Logan attempted to aim his rifle at the hound who had Preston pinned but was interrupted before he could shoot by another hound. Logan shifted his arm into the hound's mouth right behind its last tooth, into the jaw's joint, steadily keeping the mouth from closing on him. As Logan struggled to grab his combat knife with his left hand, Preston planted his feet on the hound's stomach and rolled. Using the rocking momentum, along with his leg muscles he threw the mutant off himself before scrambling up and aiming his musket at the beast. Pulling the trigger Preston was met with a fizzing sound, before a flame shot out of the puncture marks on the musket. Preston threw the rifle at the hound hoping to at least stumble it. As soon as the laser musket made contact with the ground underneath the advancing mutant, it sparked and exploded. The explosion though small, had enough power in it to rip open the hound's stomach. The beast stopped advancing and whimpered before it fell over.

Logan, who was still struggling to fight off his beast, took one second to chuckle at the stupid impossibility of what had just occurred. Preston hearing the General's chuckle turned and saw the General still struggling. Not finding anything that could help Preston charged the hound and tackled it off of Logan. Exploiting the freedom of his right arm, Logan grabbed his pistol and aimed it at the hound.

"Preston jump off!" Logan shouted.

Preston heard and shoved off of the muscled beast. The second there was room Logan fired his whole magazine into the hound's head, putting the beast down for good.

With the two hounds taken care of Logan finally noticed that the rest of the battle had been fairly one-sided, as the guards had started to get pushed back by the Super Mutants. Grabbing the laser rifle from his pack Logan tossed the weapon to Preston, who caught it before turning a saddened look at the small crater that had once been his musket.

Logan grabbed Preston by the shoulder and moved him towards the pinned guards. Preston shook his head before focusing on the advancing Mutants. New laser rifle in hand Preston opened fire on the first Mutant, lances of red penetrating the humanoids armor. Logan joined in attacking the next mutant with his assault rifle, rounds perforating the beings skull. The guards saw the two men starting to make quick work of the remaining Mutants, and sat in awe at their prowess.

It had only been a few minutes before the battle subsided, the clear winners being the two Minutemen. Logan scanned the clearing the battle had taken place in to make sure that nothing had been left standing. All the greeted him were the green bodies all laying sprawled out, neat little holes decorating each of them, at least where there wasn't the occasional fire spreading over some of the bodies Preston had taken down with his laser rifle.

The two men, with their weapons lowered, looked back at the guards. One had been hit in the stomach with a stray round, and the other was attempting to stop the bleeding.

Running over to the downed man, Logan kneeled down and assessed the situation.

"Do you have a doctor in the City?" Logan asked the second guard, who only nodded, "we have to move him, I need you to run ahead and get the doc prepared for his arrival. You got me? Do you understand?"

The guard nodded standing, "It'll be done, just hurry."

The guard took off sprinting like a mad man. Logan reached into his bag and grabbed an extra shirt, tearing the article into strips Logan hurriedly made some bandages before wrapping the man's wounds enough to slow the bleeding.

"Preston I'm going to need your help getting him onto my back, are you ready?"

"Yes, sir. Ready whenever you are."

Logan nodded, before taking quick shallow breaths.

"Alright three, two, one."

Logan grabbed the guards arm pulling him into a half standing position, while Preston helped stabilize the man. Scooting closer to the man, Logan draped the man over his shoulders and lifted. Gritting his teeth to the added weight Logan began his jog to the gate to Diamond City. Logan thanked whoever was listening because the distance to the gate was not very far at all, especially lucky because Logan was already sweating profusely.

Arriving at the entrance Logan and Preston were met with several guards all running to meet them with a stretcher. With the help of Preston and a few others the guard was removed from Logan's shoulders and placed onto the stretcher. The group of guards sped away with the stretcher, making their way into the city, leaving Logan and Preston to catch their breath.

"Well I hope that he ends up being ok." Logan remarked, as he sat down on a bench.

"I'm sure he will, sir." Preston responded taking a seat next to the General.

"It has just been on event after another, huh?"

"Ha, welcome to the Commonwealth, General."

"Well, at least it's not bor-."

Logan's thought process came to a screeching halt as he looked into the eyes of a woman wearing a red leather jacket. The woman before him had shoulder length black hair, beautiful hazel green eyes, soft skin over high cheek bones, and finally full lips that were pulled into a little mischievous grin. Logan was looking at a woman who bore an insane resemblance to his wife.

"I'm Piper Wright, and I think I just found my next story."

 **Author Note**

I have changed Piper's look to follow along more with the preset face of Nora in Character customization. Thank you for reading this far, have a good day.


End file.
